


Never Close our eyes

by TiffinRiver



Category: Adam Lambert (Musician)
Genre: LOSELY based on the NCOE video, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-07
Updated: 2016-02-07
Packaged: 2018-04-19 15:26:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 15,423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4751399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TiffinRiver/pseuds/TiffinRiver
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Adam wakes up in a world where individuality is banned, with only a few vague memories of a guy with pink hair.  His two new friends do their best to help and escape.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 1

Pain. White light, and ow, yeah, he really hurt. Adam tried to sit up, his black and silver hair falling into his face. He fell back onto the...table? His arms were bound by his sides and his ankles were attached to the thing, the restraints appeared to be the same material as seatbelt, however, they didn't stretch.

  
As far as Adam could see he was alone. The room itself was white, like, hospital white, and there was a moniter of sorts on his left. Although he didn't appear to be attached to it. He looked up at the ceiling and saw...cameras. Lots of them. Ten or twenty at least.

  
Okay, this was getting weirder by the minute.

  
The last thing Adam remembered was...was...he frowned, was... He didn't know. He had a vague memory of being in a car, or truck, or something, and an impression of a man, pink hair, red maybe.

  
Adam struggled against the restraints, somewhere in his mind a voice was telling him that the man with the pink hair was important. Telling him he needed to find the guy, whoever he was.

  
Footsteps sounded to his right, and he turned his head, a young man came into view. He was tall, thin, had dark hair that fell messily in his eyes, those eyes were trained on the paper in his hands. He looked up, and Adam's own eyes widened. The man's eyes were black, the pupils dilated to the point that not even a sliver of colour could be seen.

  
"Adam Lambert." It was not a question, Adam nodded anyway, the man's voice was dead, no emotion. "I am Jake Salnat. I will be your instructor."

  
The man, Jake, leant over Adam and unfastened the restraints."Come with me."

 

Adam stood with a wince, and followed Jake, his legs hurt and his head didn't exactly hurt, but it was certainly protesting. He felt as if someone had replaced his brain with cotton candy.

  
Jake led him through empty corridor after empty corridor. Adam wanted to talk, or pick at his nail varnish, anything to distract himself. One look around confirmed his suspicion that neither thing would be taken well. They had made their way into a more populated area of the building, and the people around him were like Jake. Dead. Pupils blown wide, and eyes trained on the ground. The only sound was that of feet hitting the floor and even that seemed muted, dull. The people were in a much worse state than Jake; Jake was well dressed, clean, almost debonair. These people were none of those things, they were dirty, their clothes ragged and covered in grime. Adam knew he should feel sorry for those people, but he had a sneaking suspicion that he would soon be joining them.

  
Jake stopped outside a door, his fingers danced across the keypad and there was a nearly silent click. The door swung open without a sound, the people inside the room, a woman and three men, didn't even look up as the door opened. Jake's voice almost made him jump, "In. Wait."

  
Adam walked in and took a seat, falling into the same head down, hands lax in his lap pose as everyone else. The door snicked shut. He stayed still, examining everyone out of the corners of his eyes. Two of the men were identical twins, blonde, muscular, the whole package. The third man was small and slight also blonde, he was slumped more than the other two. The woman had black hair, and was sitting straight, watching him.

  
He shifted, just slightly to make sure, she was definitely watching him. She pinched the small blonde guy, who looked up quickly. She nodded to Adam, they both stood and walked over. Adam kept his head down, and posture the same, despite the fear coursing through him, he had no idea what they were going to do.

  
"What's your name? If you can remember it." The woman spoke, her voice was low, rough from disuse.

  
"Adam Lambert." Adam answered before he even had time to think.

  
The woman smiled, and held out a hand, "Hi, I'm Lizzy Rivers, this is my brother Luke."

  
Luke nodded but did not offer his hand to shake. Lizzy didn't appear to notice, "You're new. New enough that Jake brought you rather than leaving it to someone else."

  
Luke nodded, his voice was quiet, and his piercing blue eyes held Adam's. "He's pretty too."

  
Lizzy laughed, "Is he?"

  
Luke nodded, "Very. Not my type though."

  
Lizzy tilted her head to the side, and Adam suddenly spotted the white film over her blue eyes.

  
"You're blind?" He spoke without thinking, but Lizzy only nodded, "When They tried to make me all zombie, like the twins, it didn't work, just turned me blind."

  
Adam glanced up towards the twins, they were still in the same position as before, Luke's voice was dismissive,"Don't worry about them, they can't hear us."

Adam's attention turned back to the siblings when Lizzy laughed again, "He must be very pretty, you never talk this much."

  
Luke shrugged, "I already said, not my type."

  
Lizzy grinned, "Yes, Tommy Joe's more your type."

  
Luke flicked her and Lizzy smiled, and stuck her tounge out.

  
Adam's curiosity was itching, he shifted his attention to Lizzy, "How often do people come in?"

  
Lizzy shrugged, "I don't know. I could feel you."

  
Adam frowned, Lizzy half smiled, "I tell when a person is still themself, I can feel it. You, Adam, are blasting personality."

  
Adam smiled, unsure, "Thanks."

  
Luke raised an eyebrow, "Tommy's not himself, but you sensed him?"

  
Lizzy shrugged, "Personality residue? Like Jake? I dunno."

  
Suddenly Luke's head jerked up, "Lizzy, people."

  
Luke shot back to his chair, Lizzy stood then looked back at Adam, "Do as they say, don't speak, copy the people around you."

  
Adam nodded, Lizzy sat and slumped back into the pose, just as the door opened again.

  
"25, 26, 134 and 54 come with me." The speaker was a tall woman, with red hair and green eyes.

Luke and Lizzy stood, Luke balancing Lizzy as she swayed. As they passed Adam, Lizzy tugged his arm, "Come on 52. You can talk around Tiffin. "

  
Adam stood and Tiffin nodded at them, "Come on."

  
One of the twins had stood also, and the four left together. Tiffin led the way with Lizzy and Luke behind her, Adam found himself walking beside 134. He surreptitiously looked around, eyes grazing over, blonde, brown, red heads. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a flash of bright pink. He forgot what he had been told, twisting to look, there was only an empty corridor. Luke's hand on his arm was a shock, and when he fell into step beside Adam, Adam instinctively looked towards Lizzy. She was walking ahead with her head down, staring fixedly at the ground. Luke spoke quietly, his own head down."What was that?"

Adam quickly copied him, "I thought I saw... Nevermind."

  
Tiffin took a left turn, her hand resting on Lizzy's shoulder to guide her. Luke waited until they were safely round the corner, before muttering."You looked like you'd seen a ghost, what was it?"

Adam gave a resigned huff, which made Luke's lips twitch with a smile, when Adam glared he only motioned for Adam to continue, "I thought I saw someone. I can't remember their name, or their face, but I know it's a guy, and his hair's pink."

  
Luke gave a miniscule head shake, "No guys in this complex with pink hair."

  
Adam sagged slightly, Luke's hand briefly squeezed his, "Hey, at least you remembered something. We didn't. Took us five years to find out we were related. Maybe we can find this guy."

  
Adam smiled in thanks, and Luke nodded, speeding up slightly to walk by his sister.  
He couldn't remember the rest of the walk, his mind so busy, trying desperately to remember more of the pink haired man.

  
Tiffin came to a stop, catching Lizzy's shoulder, Adam heard Lizzy's muttered, "I'm not stupid! I know where we are!" And Tiffin's soft chuckle. Tiffin keyed in the code and the door opened, Lizzy stalked In Luke close behind, Adam stood, he had no idea what to do. Tiffin gave him a slight shove, "Go on. I doubt they'll complain."

  
Adam stepped in. Inside was an apartment, Lizzy was sitting in silence on the sofa, fingers flashing over a keyboard, Luke was reading beside her.

  
Lizzy motioned to the white armchair opposite her. Adam sat, and watched them, Lizzy looked up and spun the laptop to face him. His own face looked out of the screen, he looked up at her, eyebrow raised."It's your personal information. Read it."

She got a book and fell back into the seat. Adam bent his head over the laptop,

  
'Adam Lambert.  
29 years old.  
Ginger. Blue eyes.  
Brought in: 23/05/12  
Woke up: 14/09/17  
52  
Roommates: unknown information .'

  
The words made no sense, he'd been out for...five years? He blinked and read it again, yep, it definitely said 2017. He looked up and Lizzy met his eyes, "Any questions?"

  
Adam nodded, "What did They do to me?"

  
Lizzy shrugged, "We wish we knew. That's not only classified information, but we'll beyond our skill as hackers, as that information is only in Their heads."

  
Adam frowned, "Okay, who are They?"

  
Luke spoke without looking up from his book, "They are Themselves. You're lucky if you see Them once. Lizzy's had the most contact, because she can't see Them."

  
Lizzy shrugged, "They don't speak either, the information just, arrives in your mind."

  
Luke snapped his book closed, "Tell Lizzy about the guy with the pink hair."

  
Adam shrugged, "I have this memory of, a guy, with pink hair, and we're in a... Truck or car, I'm not sure. I can't remember his name, or his face, just the hair. And that he's important, really important."

  
"No guys with pink hair in this complex." Lizzy said, her statement the same as Luke's. "Do you remember if he was a brother, boyfriend, husband, cousin? "

  
Adam shook his head, "No. Nothing else." He looked uncomfortable for a moment, "Is being gay a problem?"

  
Luke shook his head, "Not to us. But everyone else, minus Tiffin and a few others, yes."

  
Adam nodded, "Why -?"

  
Lizzy cut him off, "Doesn't it bother us? Because I'm Bisexual and he's bi-curious. Mostly guys though on his part."

  
Luke grinned, "Hide it out there, flaunt it in here."

  
Lizzy grinned and picked up her book again, "If you want food you've gotta wait, but books we can do. Find yourself something."

  
The evening passed comfortably, and at 9:00 Luke and Lizzy went to bed, but not before showing Adam his room."Goodnight."

  
It was only minutes later that he followed them up.


	2. 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's quite a build up before any.Adommy appears sof be warned.

Adam's eyes snapped open, Luke was shaking him,"Adam.Adam. Come on, wake up."

  
Adam blinked, and brought his hands up to rub at his eyes, "What-?"

  
Luke shushed him, "Quiet, Lizzy's still sleeping, you were yelling."

  
Adam struggled upright and sat against the headboard, Luke sat on the end of the bed, "What were you dreaming about?"

  
Adam shook his head, it was all blurred, "It was that memory, the guy with the pink hair, and fear. He was scared, so was I, I was trying to convince him, and me, that it would be okay. These people, with white masks, they looked like doctors, took him away from me, I was screaming at them."

  
Luke frowned, "When They first opened this place, not this complex but the whole thing, They used to kidnap people randomly. Maybe you were one."

  
Adam suddenly frowned, "How long have you been here?"

 

Luke's mouth narrowed into a thin line, "Six years. Lizzy was here from the start."

  
Adam sighed, "So there's no way out?"

  
Luke's laugh was bitter, "I wish there was. We thought we'd found a way after Jake and Tommy arrived, but it turned out to be a set up. Resulted in me being 'given' this."  
Luke rolled up his sleeve, a scar about four inches long and an inch wide lined his forearm, "It's a tracking device. I couldn't leave if I wanted to."

  
Adam looked away, not sure what to say, Luke smiled sadly, "There's no point in going back to sleep. You might as well get up."

  
Luke rolled his sleeve back down and left, the door making a quiet click as he closed it.

 

 

Adam got up, much as Luke has suggested, dressed in yesterday's clothes, and opened his door. Lizzy was up now as well, she turned her head when she heard him, nodding a greeting. Adam nodded back, and looked around, now that he wasn't so exhausted he noticed that the apartment was nice, too nice, with several different rooms and clean furniture. Even a bathroom, Lizzy seemed to know what he was thinking, "We're not manual laborers. We work in the archives, so we get a nicer place. You'll be with the other men of this complex."

  
Adam nodded, and continued his examination of the place, "No windows."

  
Luke stepped past him, "And only one door."

  
Adam made his way down the stairs to the main part of the apartment, he sat down on one of the sofa's, and waited.

 

It was only a few minutes later that the door clicked open, it was not Tiffin, but a tall man with a bald head, behind him were perhaps 200 men, he looked in the room,  
"25,26 to your posts, 54 come with me."

  
Adam joined the crowd, the last he saw of the siblings was Luke giving him a thumbs up and mouthing, 'good luck.'

  
Adam turned back to the front, and copied the shuffling walk of the other men. The man on his left was heavily tattooed, with black hair, on his right the guy was smaller than Adam, with blonde hair. Adam returned his eyes to the front, and simply walked, allowing his mind to go blank. They stopped, they were in a large hall, it was apparently still under construction, the man who'd been leading them spoke.

  
"Evens over there," he pointed to the right, "Odds over there, " To the left.

  
Adam moved to right, both the men he'd been walking with went left, and he felt oddly lonely, he didn't even know them. He shook his head, and blocked the feeling out. The bald man was speaking again, "Odds, you're building, evens you're cleaning."

  
Everyone scattered with odd efficiency, Adam found a brush and busied himself with it, all the while watching the other people. They all seemed to be zombies, pupils blown wide, and a blank look.

  
The morning past fairly quickly, there was lots of cleaning to do, and Adam lost himself in the repetitive sweeping of the broom.

  
At 1:00 the bald man, called a halt, "Stop. Line up."

  
Adam noticed that he never raised his voice, none of them did, not even Luke and Lizzy. He fell into line, he was between a dark skinned man and the same blonde man, he'd walked down with. He followed them, suddenly they got out of construction corridors and the place was flooded with people, all moving in the same direction. Slowly people peeled off from the line, the man in front going towards a set of other dark skinned men, the man behind seemed to simply disappear. That same feeling of loneliness surrounded Adam. He looked up and around, trying to pretend it was all in his mind, he suddenly caught sight of Lizzy, and veered off towards her. She smiled when she felt him approach, "Hello. Get in line."

  
They walked towards the food, picking up trays, footsteps behind him made Adam jump slightly, Luke reached past him for a tray. "Don't eat anything."

  
The warning was muttered, and Adam gave a miniscule nod.

  
He held out his tray under the nozzle and pills clattered down onto the tray, he looked blankly at it until Lizzy sat, leaning against the wall, Adam followed suit, she motioned for him to come closer, he moved towards Lizzy, Luke sat down close to her on the other side. Adam spoke quietly, "This is what they feed us?"

  
Lizzy shrugged, "There are actual nutrients in some of these pills, but not all."  
Beside her Luke was tapping the pill with a finger nail, and occasionally eating one, Adam looked back at Lizzy, "How can you tell?"

  
Lizzy showed him the pill she was holding, "Tap it, go on."

  
He did the covering was hard, plastic like, Lizzy took it back, "That ones good."

  
She held out another, this one's covering was soft and pliable, "This one's bad."

  
Adam nodded and began to tap at his own pills, suddenly he stilled, "The cameras..."

  
Luke shook his head, "We're in the blind spot. The only blind spot."

  
As soon as they had finished eating Lizzy and Luke turned around and spilled the remaining pills down a chute, and Adam followed their example. Luke gave him a grin, "Go and wait over there. We won't see you for the rest of the day. Bye."

 

Luke was right, Adam didn't see them for the rest of the day, he was now working on constructing the hall, so he had to pay attention every moment. They stopped once more, for drinks and bathroom breaks, then continued, Adam spent every free moment trying to work out why he went from feeling incredibly lonely to safe and happy, in seconds.

 

The working day ended and they were instructed to return to their quarters, Adam mentally cursed, he had no idea where to go. As he walked out of the construction corridors he spotted Jake, who apparently also spotted him, and walked over,  
"Come."

  
Adam followed him, it was only after he had followed him for about five minutes, that he realised he was being taken the wrong way. Jake marched along, oblivious. A flash of red hair caught his eyes, and then there was Tiffin."You are relieved. I will guide 54."

  
Jake bowed his head, then faded into the crowd, Tiffin gave a small smile, "Come on."  
She led him straight through the corridors to Lizzy's and Luke's quarters. She tapped in the code, making sure that Adam saw it, 5-6-3-2-67. He closed his eyes, memorising the numbers listed.

  
Lizzy was pacing worriedly, her head snapped around as the door opened, Tiffin grinned at her, "He's fine. Lizzy, tell Luke your hours are going to be a lot longer for the next four weeks, I'll make sure he gets here."

  
Adam glared, "I'm not a zombie you know."

  
Tiffin grinned, and walked away the door sliding shut. Adam made an irritated noise and sat down on the sofa.

  
The apartment was oddly quiet, Adam looked up, "Where's Luke?"

  
Lizzy sighed, "Working on. We need something from the archive, so he needs to be the last to leave."

  
Adam dropped his head again, "What do you need?" his voice was muffled.

  
"We think we might have found a way to reverse the brain washing." She sounded...scared.

  
Adam looked up, she turned her head away, "You're scared?"

  
She laughed, "Teriffied. If this doesn't work and we get caught- " She huffed out an almost laugh.

  
Adam nodded, and closed his eyes.

  
He had no idea how long he was out for, but when he opened his eyes, Luke was grinning at him."Hello."

Adam grunted, and sat up, making space for Luke on the sofa. Lizzy was sitting smugly on the chair, her laptop open. She felt him looking,"Yup. It's here. Most of it, anyway. A couple more trips and we've got it all. You're good luck Adam, we've been trying for months!"

  
Her voice rose slightly with excitement, and Luke caught her eyes, even though she couldn't see they still managed a silent conversation.

  
They both grinned, and turned to Adam. The subject didn't come up again, and the evening was identical to the first. Lizzy and Luke heading to bed at around the same time. Lizzy stopped at the bottom of the stairs, deliberating. She appeared to make up her mind, and headed back over to him, putting her arms around Adam and hugging him.

  
It lasted only a few seconds then she was gone hurrying up the stairs and into her bedroom.


	3. 3

Nearly five weeks passed, Adam fell into a comfortable routine, get up, go to work, eat, work, home, read and then bed, before anything happened. In fact Adam had nearly forgotten about the archive breakthrough.

  
It was only when Adam arrived back at their quartes and was virtually mobbed by Lizzy as soon as he came through the door.

  
"We've got it! Luke got the last of the file this morning!" Lizzy was grinning widely, Adam had never seen her so. excited.

  
see saw saw a He grinned, "Can I see?"

  
Lizzy nodded, "Sure, it's encrypted, of course. You can see what I've decrypted."

  
She turned and hurried back to the table, spinning the laptop and handing it to Adam. Lizzy settled on the sofa beside him, seeming to have calmed a down.

  
Lizzy scrolled through pages of encryption until she came to several decrypted pages. Adam settled back and began to read, it was complicated.

  
After about an hour and a half, Adam sat forward and placed the laptop on the table,  
"So, summed up and simplified, it's less of a brain washing and more of a muting of...everything?"

  
Lizzy nodded, "Sort of, it numbs the areas of the brain that produce emotion, and rewire them to take commands from a specific source.In this case, Them."

  
Adam frowned, "Okay, and it didn't affect us because...?"

  
Lizzy shrugged, "No idea. If it's in here I haven't decrypted it yet. As far as I can tell, it has something to do with what we did before we forgot, Luke was an artist, Tiffin was a guitarist, bass player actually, wrote her own music, something about creativity."  
Adam nodded, "Cool, okay. How are you planning to reverse it?"

  
Lizzy grinned, " It's ridiculously simple, we just need to jump start those areas of the brain. If it works the person should be like me, you, Luke, and so on. Emotional but without memory."

Adam looked at her, " What happened to our memories."

  
Lizzy held up a finger, and disappeared into the other room, she cane back out with a bottle of clear liquid,"This drug. It's called Mirolicoine, it effectively wipes all memory. You're the first to have any kind of recollection at all. Everything we know comes from hacking the archives." 

"So memory can't be restored?" Adam asked.

Lizzy shook her head, " Sorry. Now gimme the laptop, I need to finish decrypting."

  
Adam passed her the laptop and stood to get himself a book. Behind him Lizzy put her headphones in and began decrypting.

  
Three hours later the door swished open and Luke came in, he stepped inside and hurried over to Lizzy, looking over her shoulder, "Nearly done?"

  
Lizzy nodded, "Pretty much. Just the manual for the machine."

  
Luke grinned and flopped down on the chair, "We won't be able to use the machine anyway, do don't bother."

  
Adam closed his book, "So how are you planning to switch the brain on again?"

  
"You." Lizzy grinned at Adam's confusion, "The guy with the pink hair.In few days there's going to be a gathering. A chance for us to ' socalize'. It's all in the hall you finished constructing a week ago. All five complexes will be there, we'll find him, there's a chance that you will be able to jump start him."

  
Luke shifted forwards, "It's slim, but it's the only chance we have right now."

  
Adam nodded, "What if it doesn't work?"

  
Lizzy shrugged, "It'll just take longer. We've got nothing to lose."

 

The day of the ' socialisation' rolled around. Adam woke earlier than normal, he lay still trying to place what woke him. Eventually the sound of soft talking filtered through the door. Adam swung himself out of bed, and wondered out of the room, as he looked at the scene in the living area below him.

  
Tiffin and another woman, small and blonde, Lizzy and Luke, all bent over the laptop. Talking quietly, the woman he didn't recognise looked up, met his eyes and said something to Lizzy. Lizzy waved at him, and Adam hurried down the stairs.

  
Lizzy introduced him to the other woman, her name was Ebony, she shook hands with him.

  
Tiffin suddenly winced, "Got to go. See you soon. Come on Eb."

  
Ebony left with a smile and a wave. Lizzy grinned, then looked at Adam, "We've got twenty minutes, get dressed."

  
Adam opened his mouth, then shook his head, "I don't even want to know how you knew that."

  
He disappeared into his room, dressed and came out to join them just as the door opened, " 25, 26, 54 , come on."

  
Adam knew this man, his name was Laurance, he was clever, and unaffected. The three stood and joined the line, they walked with the others too the new Hall. The hall was massive big enough to accommodate all the various complexes.

  
On arrival Lizzy linked hands with Adam and Luke, Luke saw Adam confused gaze, "There's to many people, she'll get lost."

  
Lizzy frowned, "Thanks. Alright eyes open, people."

  
The walked around the hall just like everyone else, they kept their heads down but Adam was watching the people sharply. He didn't see anything, just faces, face after face. Nothing he recognised.

  
A feeling of protectiveness assaulted him, like a punch in the gut, and he spun, in time to see the blonde guy he'd worked with everyday for the last month and a bit, being pulled from the hall by two white suited guards.

  
Luke spotted it too, "Oh hell."

  
Lizzy's started forwards, "Tommy Joe!"

  
Adam looked at the guy, picturing him with pink hair, "That's him! The guy from my dream!"

  
Luke shifted irritability, "I'm done with this ."

  
The words were final, and Lizzy nodded, "Let's go."

  
They grinned and Adam followed the tug on his hand, they were suddenly running, Lizzy's laughter echoing in his head, as they charged the guards. Luke grinned, and suddenly he had jumped on one, the guard fell, Luke on top. Lizzy had got a knife from somewhere, and her laughter was more sharp edged now.

  
Adam refused to spare either a second glance, his entire focus on the man on the floor. He lifted Tommy Joe, and the man's eyes opened, pupils dilated. Lizzy's voice broke into his mind, "Adam, follow me! Luke!"

  
Adam saw the guard Lizzy had been fighting fall to the floor, blood gushing crimson, onto the white floor. Luke knocked his out and followed.

  
Adam ran behind her in silence for many corridors before panting out, "Lizzy, how the hell do you know where you're going?"

  
Lizzy shot him a grin, "I've been here for fifteen years, you think I haven't explored?"  
She suddenly came to sliding stop, and punched a hand to the nearest wall. There was an ugly cracking sound, and mirror like cracks spread through the wall. Lizzy turned doubling back on herself, leading them in the opposite direction. They reached a dark corridor, it was dusty and unused.

  
Luke slid to a halt, "I'll see you soon, little sister."

Lizzy smiled sadly, and pressed a kiss to Luke's check. "Good luck."

  
Luke darted off again, and Lizzy led Adam down the corridor. They made their way to the end of the corridor, where Lizzy pushed open a swinging door and motioned for Adam to go in. Inside was a staircase, and Lizzy clattered down it, "Come on!"

  
Adam looked back, watched the door close, took a deep breath, lifted Tommy more comfortably and ran after Lizzy.

  
She led them around boxes, through a maze of equipment and finally into a small passage. At the end of this passage was a door, that Lizzy kicked open.

  
Adam ducked inside and froze, Lizzy had switched on the lights, and it was like being inside the biggest blanket fort ever. Christmas lights, hanging lights, lamps, all cast a yellow glow over the place, the stone walls were draped with brightly coloured cloth, there were sofa's and cushions and beds. And right in the middle was a set of about twenty screens, each one linked to a couple of cameras. Adam carefully deposited a still woozy Tommy on a sofa, "Where are we?"

  
Lizzy grinned, "The only place the sensors can't reach, They don't know this place exists. It's from before the complex was built. This whole area, we think it was a school or something. Hence the equipment out there."

  
Adam looked down at Tommy, "Luke?"

  
Lizzy waved towards the screens, "Have a look. He'll be fine."

  
She disappeared off into the back of the giant tent, reappearing with water. She knelt by Tommy, lifting his head to help him drink.

  
Adam looked at the screens in time to see Luke dart past the camera. Luke seemed to be counting, he suddenly stopped and turned back to the camera, and blew a kiss at it and waved.A tinny shout came through the speakers, "Stay safe, I'll be fine."

  
Adam looked at Lizzy her head was bent over Tommy, but despite that Adam could see her hand wiping her eyes. He walked over, crouched down beside her and hugged her. Lizzy pulled away after a moment, "We should get some sleep."

  
"What about Tommy?" Adam asked.

  
Lizzy shook her head, "He's out like a light."

  
"Alright. Goodnight."

  
"Goodnight, Adam."

 

 

Luke was running through the corridors of the complex, he slid round a corner and looked up the stairs towards the next floor.

  
Inside the complex was arranged on 24 different levels, on each wall of the building, each floor on each side opened onto an open space about the width of a room. The staircases ran zigzag up the outside of the floors. On each floor their was a balcony reaching nearly from wall to wall. Leaving about a meter between each balcony, the balcony was surrounded by a railing at about waist height.

  
Luke was standing on one of the balconies, looking up at the staircases and watching the white dressed guards run towards him, footsteps sounded behind him. Luke didn't look back. Instead he jumped up balancing on the slim metal railing, the guards reached the scene, just as Luke jumped, his fingers caught the railing on the other side, slipped, fell. His hands caught the bottom of the balcony, Luke looked down six floors, heart in his mouth. He looked up and reached up, grabbed the rail with one hand, reached with his other hand and flipped himself easily over the railing.

  
Luke smoothed his jeans, whatever had just happened his mind had had no say in, his body had been running that show. For now he was safe.

  
Luke began to run feet pounding on the white floor, in front of him more guards began to swarm towards him, Luke simply went with his instinct and leaped onto the railing, jumping up and catching hold of the balcony above and swinging himself up. He ran again, he was out of breath and fear clouded his vision. He darted down a side corridor, heading for an unused set of stairs that would take him to the roof.

  
He made it most if the way before he was found, feet echoed from all sides, behind him, in front of him, in the corridor on his left. A strange calm closed in around him, and he reached into his back pocket. The instrument was tiny...and deadly. He loaded the gun, and began to walk towards the corridor on his left. He was barely aware of the blood that spattered on the floor as he cleared a path through to the stairs.  
He was up them in a moment, an exultant laugh rattling out of him.


	4. 4

Adam woke up, froze in panic then relaxed as he remembered where he was. Adam stood and walked out of the secluded corner of the huge room, and into the main part of the room. Tommy was sitting up on the sofa, eyes open and unseeing. Adam did a quick check, Lizzy was still sleeping.

  
Adam walked towards Tommy, "Tommy Joe?"

  
Tommy looked up, his face blank, Adam looked back, Tommy was still, and Adam took the time to properly examine him. Tommy was small, at least compared to him, Tommy's hair was died blonde, as his roots were quickly turning brown, Adam wished he could tell what colour Tommy's eyes were, but the dilation of his pupils prevented it. Adam crossed the last few feet between them, and knelt in front of Tommy, Tommy tilted his head to watch him, Adam mentally crossed his fingers, "Do you remember me, Tommy Joe Ratliff?"

  
Tommy's voice sounded dreadful, horse and abused, "No."

  
Adam dropped his head, he knew, deep down that nothing was that easy, but he had hoped. "Come on Tommy Joe, you used to have pink hair, we came in together."  
Tommy's eyes flickered for a moment, "No."

  
"You were so scared, so was I, Tommy Joe. I'm Adam Lambert, your friend. "

  
There was the slightest hesitation, "No."

  
Adam instinctively reached up, taking one of Tommy's hands, "Please, Tommy. Try to remember."

  
Silence. Adam looked down at the hand he was holding in his, the fingertips were callused, and the nails were short. Adam had seen hands like that before...Tiffin. "You were a guitarist, Tommy. Do you remember?"

  
Again silence, this time for longer, then quiet, unsure, "No."

  
Adam pulled his hand away, hating himself for the ache in his heart, even if Tommy had meant something to him before, Tommy was not the same person,

  
"And that's a pity," Adam muttered quietly to himself, "He's such a pretty kitty."

  
"Yes." The voice was loud in the heavy silence.

  
Adam turned so fast, his hand smacked again a nearby table, he didn't even glance at it, "What?"

  
Tommy nodded, "Yes. Pretty Kitty. "

  
Adam shook his head, the memory, distorted, of standing somewhere, a stage? And grabbing Tommy by the hair and calling him Adam's pretty kitty, was like a physical assault, it hit him so fast.

  
Tommy was watching him now, present if only barely, Adam gave a small relieved huff, "Yes. What do you remember, Tommy Joe?"

  
Tommy's mouth twitched, as if he wanted to tell Adam, but didn't dare. Adam knelt again, "Tommy?"

  
Tommy didn't say anything, looking over Adam's head. Adam sighed, and began to stand, Tommy's hand closed around his, "No."

  
Adam was startled by the strength of the small man, who easily tugged him back down. Adam looked up, "Okay. Okay, Tommy Joe. I'll stay."

  
A brief smile darted across Tommy's lips. Adam felt a smile cross his own lips, he settled with his back leaning against the sofa, his right hand firmly held in Tommy's.  
At some point Adam fell asleep, because he opened his eyes to quiet singing, not Lizzy, her voice was higher. Tommy! Adam looked up, Tommy's forehead was furrowed and the words spilled out of his mouth,

"I wish that this night would never be over  
There’s plenty of time to sleep when we die  
So let’s just stay awake until we grow older  
If I had my way we’d never close our eyes, our eyes, never...."

Tommy closed his eyes, and then seemed to become aware that Adam was beside him, he watched Adam silently, Adam smiled, "You gotta let me up, Tommy Joe, I gotta take a leak."

Tommy slowly released Adam's hand.

  
Adam grinned at himself in the mirror of the tiny bathroom. A knock sounded on the door, "Adam, I'm gonna be working all day, leave me alone, okay?"

  
Lizzy. Adam nodded, "Sure."

  
"Great." Lizzy's footsteps faded, and Adam took a breath and went back out. Lizzy had already vanished, so he made his way back to Tommy, "Hey, you hungry?"

  
Tommy nodded, "Yes."

  
Adam held out a hand, "Well come on, there's food in the back."

  
Tommy took his hand, and stood. Adam led him through a bead curtain into the small kitchen area, he opened a bag of some kind of cereal, and tipped it into a bowl, Tommy watched fascinated.

  
Adam handed it to him, and Tommy's eyes went wide, "For me?"

  
Adam nodded, and pushed him towards the stools, "Yeah."

  
After watching Tommy for a few moments, Adam asked in quiet shock, "Jesus, Tommy, when was the last time you ate?"

  
Tommy shrugged, spoon halfway to mouth, "I don't know."

  
No wonder he was all bones, Adam recalled how skinny Tommy had been when he carried him. Tommy pushed his bowl back towards Adam, "More?"

  
Adam bit his lip, Lizzy would kill him. He took one look at Tommy, he was too thin, Adam poured another bowlful.

  
Tommy looked up at him, his eyes we different and it took Adam a long moment of truth to realise that a sliver of brown was showing around the pupil.

  
"Eat." Adam looked away, suddenly uncomfortable.

  
Tommy did, Adam watched him, lips closed in a thin line. Tommy pushed his bowl away, and smiled, a real, genuine, honest-to-god smile, "Thank you."

  
Adam smiled back, "You're welcome."

  
Silence fell over the two of them. Tommy suddenly stood, "Do you have a guitar?"

  
Adam shook his head, "Not that I know of. Doesn't mean there isn't one, though. We can always look?"

  
Adam didn't quite know why he phrased it as a question, but Tommy didn't seem to find it strange, "Yes. Let's."

  
Adam led the way back out, and they both split up, heading out towards different area's of the room, opening boxes, moving drapes, lifting sofa's. Adam was rifling through a box when Lizzy's voice surprised him, "Adam, what on earth are you looking for?"

  
"Guitar." He grunted

  
Lizzy's stare bored into his back, "Try over by the computers, Luke used to play."

  
Adam heard her turn away, and hurriedly moved towards the computers.

  
Buried underneath and behind hundreds of wires, was an acoustic guitar, with the pick tied to it. Adam grinned triumphantly, "Tommy!"

  
Tommy walked over, "Thank you."

  
He lifted it carefully, almost as if it would break any moment. Tommy sat on the sofa, and untied the pick. Adam settled beside him, "Do you remember how to play?"

  
Tommy's fingers hesitated over the strings, "I think so."

  
The first note was drawn out and low, The ones that followed quicker as Tommy got more confident. Then is slipped into a slower tune, the same one as he had been singing when Adam woke, and now Adam found that the words appeared easily in his mind. Tommy smiled as Adam sang.

  
Tommy eventually lay the guitar aside and looked at Adam, "Why did you save me?"

  
Adam looked at his brown eyes, and looked down, "It was Lizzy and Luke's idea, they thought I'd be able reverse the zombie state that They put you in."

  
Tommy's face closed off, "I'm an experiment?"

  
Adam shook his head, "No. Tommy, I - we, we wanted to help. Changing you back was only an amazing side affect."

Tommy looked disbelieving, "They sent you didn't They?"

  
Adam shook his head, at once denying it and confused, "What?"

  
Tommy turned away, "Nevermind."

  
Adam watched him stand and walk away, "Tommy!"

  
Tommy didn't look back, Adam shot to his feet and ran after Tommy, catching his shoulder and turning him around, "Tommy."

  
Tommy shook him off, and snapped in his face, "I'm so done with all this crap! Adam's dead, They told me, showed me the body! Enough with the damn mind tricks."

  
Adam froze confused, "Dead?"

  
Tommy let out a harsh laugh, "Don't do this! Course he's bloody dead. I watched Them kill him."

  
Adam mentally shook himself, "Tommy, I'm not dead. I never was. Unconscious yes. But I never died."

  
Tommy turned and walked away again, Adam frowned in irritation, "Tommy! For gods sake, Tommy!"

Adam caught up with him, and turned him around, "Look at me, I'm not dead, okay?"

  
Tommy struggled, fingernails clawing at his hands. Adam did the only thing he could think of and pulled Tommy into a hug, "I'm not dead, I don't know why They told you that. But I'm really not."

  
Tommy stood stiff, but when Adam didn't let up he gingerly wrapped his arms round Adam's waist, and rested his head on Adam's chest.

  
"Promise?" Tommy's voice was muffled.

  
Adam nodded, "I promise."


	5. 5

Adam expected Lizzy to be more surprised when he sat down with Tommy, that night for supper. But Lizzy only nodded and layed an extra place.

  
Adam looked down at his plate, amazed once again with what Lizzy could do with tinned food.

  
Beside him Tommy was eating ravenously, Lizzy sat herself, but said nothing. The meal finished quickly and Lizzy smiled, and bent to whisper something softly in Tommy's ear, he nodded. Then she turned to Adam, "Would you check the cameras for me?"

  
Adam nodded, "Sure."

  
Lizzy collected their empty plates and disappeared into yet another part of the huge hall.

Adam stood, "Come on. Two eyes will make it quicker work."

  
Tommy stood quickly, smiled at Adam, still hesitant. Adam grinned back, then glanced over his shoulder, "Hey, Lizzy what are we looking for?"

  
Lizzy's voice echoed out to them, "Anything unusual. Now go on!"

  
Adam grinned and headed towards the screens, Tommy following close behind him. They silently took one side of the screens each, scanning them. Tommy suddenly broke the silence, "Adam! There,what's that?"

  
As usual the cameras only showed the corridors, and the flickering figure in was moving to quickly for the cameras to get a decent fix. Adam grinned, recognising the messy blonde hair, "Luke."

  
Tommy frowned, "Who?"

  
Adam grinned, "Lizzy's brother. He's got a tracker so he can't join us, but I'll bet he's having fun leading the guards around."

  
Adam lent over Tommy's shoulder, one hand resting unconsciously on the blonde's hip.

 

 

Luke was indeed having fun, he was relearning a load of tricks his body knew but his mind didn't have a clue about.

  
He reckoned that something must have been missing from his personal file, because artists weren't usually able to do back-flips and hand-springs and jump over people's heads.

  
So Luke was on his way to the archives.

 

 

Adam grinned, he missed the small, flirty, pain in the ass that was Luke Rivers. Their flirtatious teasing had become so much a part of his life, that it was odd without it. However, Luke had told him, bluntly that Adam wasn't his type, and he wasn't seriously hitting on him. Adam had been fine with it, seeing it more as a close friends game than serious anyway.

  
Tommy turned to look at him, "Is he your boyfriend?"

  
Adam blinked in surprise, "No, he's more like my best friend, why?"

  
Tommy shrugged, "You looked all... Soft, and kinda sad."

  
Adam suddenly realised how close him and Tommy were standing, "I miss him."

  
Adam began to move back, turning around and making his way over to the sofa. If he had been watching Tommy he would have seen the slight flash of disappointment when Adam backed up.

  
Tommy followed him over to the sofa, Adam already had a book in his hand. The Rivers apparently collected them. Tommy stiffly sat on the sofa beside him. Adam didn't appear to notice.

  
After about an hour or so, Tommy gave up on trying to find a comfortable position on the sofa, and shifted until he could squirm under Adam's arm, resting his head on Adam's shoulder. Adam looked down at him, frown lines creasing his forehead, "The hell, dude?"

  
Tommy made a small noise, and began to read Adam's book, Adam shook his head and turned his attention back to the book.

 

 

Tommy couldn't remember when they had fallen asleep, or when Lizzy had draped a blanket over them. But he was now awake, his insomnia coming around to bite him. The fact he was awake meant that he could fully appreciate Adam's head resting on top of his, and the weight of Adam's arm around his waist. With his head resting on Adam's chest, he felt Adam's breathing change as he woke up, "Tommy?"

  
Tommy looked up, Adam's eyes were wide and he looked unnervingly awake for someone who had been in dreamland a moment ago. Tommy smiled, "Yes?"

  
"What time is it?" Adam asked, voice rough with sleep.

  
Tommy shrugged, "Early?"

  
Adam snorted, "You're a helpful fucker, you know that?"

  
Tommy winked, "Course."

  
Adam smiled again. Something was telling him he should be awkward, or at least uncomfortable, but it all seemed so right... Him and Tommy like this, curled up on a sofa, the easy banter.

  
Tommy shifted, knocking Adam out of his thoughts, "Adam? "

  
Adam looked down at Tommy, "Yes?"

  
Tommy looked slightly uncomfortable, "Have we ever done this before?"

  
Adam shrugged, dislodging Tommy's head, which earned him an annoyed grunt,  
"Sorry. I don't know. I suppose so, it feels right, doesn't it?"

  
Tommy nodded, "I can't quite believe this is real."

  
Adam shifted, moving so he could see Tommy's face, "Earlier, when you yelled about me being dead and stuff, what did you mean?"

  
Tommy met his gaze squarely, "Is this the place for a heartfelt talk, Adam?"

  
Adam settled back, pulling Tommy so that his back was against Adam's chest, and Adam's arm could wrap around his waist, "Isn't this where it normally happens, late at night, in the dark?"

  
Tommy made a non-committal sound, "I suppose."

  
Adam stayed quiet and eventually Tommy began to talk, "They've been messing with my head for years..."

  
Adam interrupted, "How long have you been here?"

  
Tommy glared, twisting his head to see Adam, "Five years. Now are you gonna let me tell the story?"

  
Adam nodded, "Sorry."

  
Tommy relaxed, resting his head on Adam's shoulder, "They showed me things, things like this, got my hopes up. Made me hope we could escape. You were in a few, but then They... They killed you, in front of me. I went numb in self defense."

  
Adam tightened his arms, "Do you remember anything?"

  
Tommy nodded, "Yes, I remember you, Pretty Kitty, playing guitar, stages, and some other things. Dogs, glitter, a guy in drag. Some other shit."

  
Adam nodded, "I kinda only remember things that involve you."

  
Tommy smiled, "Thanks."

  
Tommy yawned and shifted around, then laid his head on Adam's shoulder. "G'night."

  
Adam grinned sleepily and closed his own eyes. Adam wondered sleepily when his bed had become the sofa, and why the addition of a Tommy Joe Ratliff was so nice.

 

 

Luke quickly knelt by the keypad panel, he'd got the cameras on a loop, but he only had about two minutes before anyone noticed.

  
He popped the keypad away from the wall, and began to rewire it. He reattached the keypad as the door slid open. Luke darted inside, once again thanking the gods that there were no cameras in the archives.

  
Luke logged into a computer, using another night workers code, so as not to raise suspicion. He sifted through hundreds of files before one caught his eye, Tommy Ratliff.

  
Out of curiosity he opened it and his eyes widened and he scrambled back from the computer, a hand coming up to stifle a scream.


	6. 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no excuse as to why this took so long. But it's here now so enjoy.

The same hand that had stifled Luke's scream was now suffocating him. And he could feel the press of a gun in his back. Luke froze immediately, his body going still and his mind whirring as he assessed the situation. The desk was only a short way in front of him and guard was beginning to pull the gin back. Luke kicked up, pushing off the desk and sending them both sprawling. Luke was the first on his feet, he searched in his back pocket for his gun.

  
Then he spotted the silver glint on the floor, he lunged for it and the guard caught him around the waist, Luke squirmed and managed to get an arm free. Just in time to block the gun headed for his head.

The guards gun skittered across towards Luke's, and Luke ripped the guards mask off.

Luke froze as he looked into ice-blue eyes.

 

 

Tommy woke again, thrashing around on the sofa, only held in place by Adam's arms.  
"Tommy, Tommy, Tommy Joe, wake up. Come on Glitterbaby wake up."

  
Slowly Tommy returned to his head, Adam's soft voice anchoring him.

  
"Tommy, hey." A slow smile spread across Adam's face when Tommy's eyes focused on him.

Tommy smiled shakily back and relaxed. "Hey."

  
Adam's smile vanished, "Every night, more or less, for two weeks, what is it Tommy?"

  
Tommy shook his head, as he did everytime Adam asked, and frowned teasingly up at Adam, "Glitterbaby?"

  
Adam shrugged, "I don't know. Just seemed right."

  
Tommy smiled and closed his eyes, curling closer to Adam.

 

 

Morning rolled around, and brought with it Luke Rivers, walking towards the guard room. He was dressed rather smartly and walked with such confidence that no one questioned his presence.

  
He knelt by the keypad panel outside and simply ripped it off the wall. The door slid open.

  
Inside four of the guides were sitting around a table talking in low voices, all four looked up to see Luke leaning against the doorframe.

"Hello. Do you want to play a game?"

  
Three of the guides stood, the Captain stayed seated watching him with a shrewd look.

  
The Captain motioned for the others to leave them, Luke smiled and pulled a pack of playing cards from his pocket and put them down on the table. He then took a seat, the Captain leant forwards, "This is completely against my orders. What are the stakes?"

  
Luke smiled, "I win, I walk out alive, and every single person in here dies. I lose, I die."

  
The Captain raised an eyebrow, "Those are high stakes."

  
Luke smiled, "There the only stakes I'm going to offer."

  
The Captain nodded, "Very well. What's the game?"

  
Luke opened the pack of cards, face down, "You know how the numbers work, ace is one, two is two etcetera?"

  
The Captain nodded, and Luke gave him three cards, still face down, "Who evers cards add up to the most wins, simple."

  
The Captain nodded and flipped his cards, two aces and a Jack, "Twelve."

  
Luke flipped his cards over.

 

 

Adam groaned loudly when the lights were switched on, "Lizzy!"

  
Tommy's laugh echoed in the room, "Lizzy left an hour ago. She's doing something with the equipment out there."

  
Adam groaned and rolled over burying his head in the pillow, "Turn the light off."

  
Tommy laughed again and walked over to the sofa, " Lizzy also 'requested' that we clean up around here."

  
Adam rolled onto his back and looked up at Tommy's smiling face, Adam had to resist the urge to kiss the smile right off Tommy's face.

  
Tommy's smile suddenly turned sly and he pulled the cover off Adam. Adam yelped and sat up, "It's cold Tommy Joe!"

  
Tommy laughed and darted around the table between the sofa and the cameras. Adam laughed and leaped over the table, him and Tommy tumbled to the floor laughing.

  
They rolled around for a few moments, until Adam pushed himself to his feet, shaky from laughter, "We should get started."

  
Tommy grinned up at him, "Okay."

  
Adam laughed, "Then get up Glitterbaby!"

  
Tommy jumped up again, "Again with the nicknames!"

 

 

"Three." Luke's voice was quiet in the silence of the room.

  
The Captain laughed, " You lose."

  
Luke reached into his jacket, a small white keypad in his hand, "Did I?"

  
The Captain looked blankly at him for a long moment then began laughing. Luke smiled to, a sharp smile, all edges and no softness.

  
His hand closed around the keypad and he stood. The Captain's laughter faded as Luke walked towards the door, he stood, "Guards! Capture that man."

  
Even as the guards stood the explosions began, and behind Luke the guard building began to collapse.

  
He stepped out of the dust, brushed himself down and began to run.

  
He knew that right now all cameras were focused on the building and not on him.  
He ran faster than he ever had and then suddenly drew to a stop, beside a wall cracked by a fist. He began pulling at the shards of stone, ignoring the cuts that appeared on his hands. Finally reaching in he pulled out a small implement, it had a long needle and looked vicious. Luke reached behind him, pulling out a gold and white knife. He threw it almost absebtmindedly at the nearest camera, smiling as it shattered.

  
The needle pressed against his skin and vanished inside. A moment later the tracker clattered to the floor and Luke stamped on it. Crushing it into tiny pieces.

  
Then he was gone doubling back on himself, and running down the dusty corridor and through a nearly forgotten door.


	7. 7

Lizzy's yell of surprise and joy startled Adam nd Tommy. They turned and began to run towards the sound. When they hurried through the door and into the large area full of technology. Lizzy had her arms around a small slim blonde figure who was laughing excitedly.

  
And, Tommy noticed, bleeding from a hole about a centimetre wide in his forearm,  
"Um.. Do you need that bandaged?"

  
The man turned to him and, oh, he was pretty. Beside Tommy Adam suddenly laughed, "LUKE!"

  
Luke hurried towards them and threw his arms around Adam, hugging him tightly, Luke's voice was muffled in Adam's shoulder, but Tommy could still hear the words,  
"I missed you. Way more than I thought I would."

  
Adam nodded and squeezed Luke tightly, "Me too."

  
Lizzy mimed gagging loudly and both boys broke apart, she laughed, "Just because you haven't seen each other in a few weeks doesn't mean that you have to start where you left off. Seriously you two."

  
Adam blushed and Luke only chuckled and kissed Adam on the cheek, loudly, which made Adam blush harder.

  
Lizzy groaned, "Go on, asshole. Get inside, I need to bandage your arm."

  
Luke and Lizzy vanished through the door, and Adam made a move to follow them, then noticed Tommy's stance.

  
Tommy was standing perfectly still with his fists clenched and a frown creasing his forehead.

Adam turned to him, "What's up?"

  
Tommy huffed, "Don't like him."

 

 

As soon as the door swung shut Lizzy clipped Luke around the head, "Don't do that."

  
Luke pouted then remembered she couldn't see him and asked, "Why not?"

  
Lizzy swiped the antiseptic across his arm roughly making him wince, she began wrapping the bandage around his arm before she spoke, "Because that boy is absolutely head over heels for Adam, and I don't want you two to fight."

 

Luke sighed, "Seriously?"

  
Lizzy gave him a glare and Luke relented, "Fine, I'll try."

  
Lizzy stepped back and wiped her hands as Adam and Tommy came through the door.

  
Luke gave Tommy a polite smile, then headed past them both towards the camera screens.

 

 

He focused on the screen displaying the rubble of the building, and frowned when a single figure climbed out.

Luke made an incredibly displeased noise and turned around towards he his sister. " The Captain of the guard survived."

Lizzy groaned, "Damn. He'll go running to Them and we'll be in deep trouble. "

  
Luke turned away from the cameras and sat down on the sofa. The other three sat down around him, Luke shook his head. "No, I don't think he will. "

  
Adam lent forwards curiously, "Why wouldn't he?"

  
Luke frowned and then spoke slowly, "I had an... Incounter with him last night. He caught me in the archives."

  
Lizzy was leaning close now, listening intently, Luke looked at them all before continuing. "He could've killed me, he had me a gun point. We fought and...oh my god, Lizzy, he fucking let me go!"

  
Lizzy frowned, "What were you doing in the archives anyway?"

  
Luke grinned, "I wanted to check my file, I can do some pretty cool stuff, but I got distracted and clicked on Tommy's instead. I nearly screamed. "

  
Tommy frowned, and Luke turned to him, "Seriously man, I have the biggest amount of respect for you right now. Living through that shit is pretty damn amazing."

  
Tommy nodded, he seemed reluctant to agree with Luke on anything.

  
Lizzy sensed that this particular conversation was over and stood. "I'm gonna go and start cooking, Adam come with me, I burnt myself yesterday. I need you to supervise."

  
Adam snorted but stood, "Me supervise you? What the hell are you on?"

  
Their easy banter followed them across the room, until they vanished. Luke shifted then looked across at Tommy. "Look, I totally get that you've got a metaphorical flag on Adam. But I'm not going after him, okay?"

Tommy frowned, "I don't -"

  
Luke laughed, "You so fucking do. Look, even Lizzy's noticed you love him. I'm not going to stop flirting, because he's my best freind and he'd notice if I stop. But I respect that he's spoken for. "

  
Tommy looked across at Luke, suddenly seeing him in a different light. Tommy nodded, "Alright."

  
Luke looked uncomfortable for a moment then held out a hand, "Let's try this again. Hello, I'm Luke Rivers."

  
Tommy shook his hand, "Hello, I'm Tommy Ratliff."

  
They grinned at each other.

  
Behind them a crash echoed through the hall, followed by Adam's laughter and Lizzy's swearing, they both stood and Luke rolled his eyes as they headed towards the noise.

 

It turned out that Adam had been chatting away to her, and had distracted her to the point where she had tipped the pot of beans on the floor. She was brandishing a spooh in Adam's direction when Luke and Tommy walked in.

  
"Don't stand directly behind a blind girl with a pot! It'll never end well!"

  
Adam was laughing but he was also backing up, "I won't do it again!"

  
He crashed into Luke who wrapped his arms around Adam's waist, and tucked his chin over Adam's shoulder."Brother, sister loyalty, sorry, honey."

Adam groaned and struggled for a few seconds, before turning to Tommy with beseeching eyes, "Tommy, help me!"

  
Tommy chuckled and lunged for Luke. The two of them play wrestled for a few moments.

Lizzy suddenly yelped, and began to try and separate them, "Stop! Stop! You're going to knock over the pan!"

  
Adam lunged forwards and lifted Tommy straight off his feet, and away from Luke.  
Tommy immediately went still, and Adam put him down gingerly. Tommy leaned over on Adam, looking up at him with a smile.

  
Adam looked down at Tommy, who met his eyes and leaned more heavily against him. Adam blushed, and smiled down at Tommy. Lizzy's sharp voice broke the silence,  
"Sit down you two, foods ready, although beans are not on the menu tonight. Blame Adam for that one."

 

 

They sat quietly around the table until Tommy suddenly shifted in his seat and glanced up at Lizzy, "How can you see?"

  
Lizzy turned her head in his direction, the white film over her eyes clear in the florescent kitchen light. She smiled dryly, and turned in her chair, lifting some of her dark hair, to reveal a white, square scar on the back of her neck, "I had to be able to get around, to write, decode, whatever. So they gave me that. I can see, but not like you. I can see outlines, obviously, but it's all black and white. Unless your unaffected then you shine like a becon."

  
Tommy stared at her, seeing the hidden sadness for a moment before she changed the subject with a smile.

  
Their after dinner ritual was simple and Luke slotted in perfectly. The washing up was done, the kitchen tidied, and the four wondered out and sat down, each collecting a different book, Luke briefly exclaimed over the fact that there was a copy of Robinson Cruso. Then at various times they went to bed, Luke disappearing first into Adam's room, Lizzy next, and Adam soon fell asleep on the sofa, arms tightly around Tommy.


	8. 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I GOT WIFI BACK TODAY!  
> I finished this just after Incompetence Leads to kisses. Buthe life was a bitch and crashed my wifi. Enjoy this chapter anyway!

Tommy lay with his eyes open, Adam's arm was curled protectively around Tommy. Tommy's mind was whirring he was terrified.

  
He wasn't terrified by the prospect of being caught, or of the Captain telling on them, he was terrified of fucking up.

  
Luke had been right, Tommy did love Adam. Way to much.

  
Of his few memories, the clearest were always the ones that involved Adam.  
He shifted and looked carefully at Adam, he remembered being totally in love with the man before, and Tommy was definitely a little bit bendy. But he also remembered the hesitation in Adam whenever Tommy had tried to get Adam do anything with him. Adam had always claimed he was drunk, high, not sure, straight and a million other reasons. Tommy had never been any of these things. Tommy, carefully so as not to wake Adam, kissed Adam's cheek and sighed.

  
His biggest fear was that those memories would return and Adam wouldn't want him.  
Tommy froze as Adam's eyes fluttered open, "Hey."

  
Tommy laughed, "Hey."

  
Adam looked at him quizzically for a moment then sighed closed his eyes again.  
"Go to sleep, TommyJoe."

  
Tommy grinned, "Of course."

 

 

They were both woken by Luke's and Lizzy's voices echoing around the hall, they were calling out instructions. Tommy cracked open an eye and was immediately jumped on by Luke, "Get up! Come on!"

  
Tommy groaned, "I can't. get off, asshole!"

  
Luke laughed, "Okay, idiot."

  
He rolled off Tommy and began grabbing at some of the bags. "Get up Tommy, Adam, we're leaving!"

  
Adam sat up so fast he tipped Tommy off the sofa, "WHAT?!"

  
Lizzy laughed, "A few days ago I began reassembling the old car engine back there. Last night Luke finished it off."

  
Luke grinned, " I've always better at mechanical things."

  
Lizzy chucked a bag at him, "Because you can see the fiddly parts!"

  
Luke laughed, "I managed to dig up some old oil too. We'll be outta here in no time."

  
Adam could see the 'but' hovering just below the surface. "But?"

  
Luke shifted uncomfortably, "The engine is here, the car is outside the complex. Not far outside. But still outside."

  
Adam frowned, "It's really risky, Luke are you sure?"

  
Luke absently rubbed his arm, "I'm sure. We've got one chance. Let's go."

  
Adam pulled on his boots and grabbed a pack. Tommy was already standing at the door waiting for them. "Come on!"

  
Luke appeared to be leading them towards the end of the corridor.

  
He looked out first, carefully. Judging the risk. Then Luke nodded and darted across the hall into a small space out of the cameras line of sight. Adam moved to follow, but Lizzy's hand closed sharply around his wrist, she pointed silently up at the camera. Adam watched as it slowly swiveled around, and Lizzy held up her hands , fingers extended, she slowly put them down, counting down the seconds before the camera was fully turned.

  
Five seconds, four, three, two, one....

  
"Go!" Lizzy hissed.

  
Adam darted across the hall, Luke grinned up at him, and they waited only a few seconds before Tommy and Lizzy joined them.

  
Luke led them quickly and surely towards the back doors of the complex. These were largely unguarded, seeing as they were only used to remove the dead.

  
Luke knelt by the heavy metal doors, a hairpin gleamed in his hand, he knelt for perhaps a minute and a half, though to the three standing there it seemed like an eternity.

  
The lock finally thumped and Luke nodded to Lizzy who leant over the keypad, fingers moving easily over the buttons.

  
The door slid open and Luke ushered Adam and Tommy out.

  
Adam grinned, they were out.He smiled at Tommy who slipped a hand into Adam's, and squeezed, Adam returned the strong grasp. Lizzy smiled at them both and then beckoned silently, and led them towards the fence that surrounds the complex.  
It was electric and guarded 24/7. They had to be quick.

  
Lizzy walked towards it digging a pair of wire cutters from her bag. Even as she slipped on the gloves that would stop any electricity touching her, and lifted the cutters, a white clothed figure came out, gun cocked.

  
Luke swore softly, and shoved the knife into Tommy's hand, and the gun into Adam's.  
He set off running, Adam hissed after him, "Luke! What the fuck are you doing?!"

  
Luke ignored him and launched himself at the guard. Adam soon found that there were many around him and his entire focus was on stopping them reaching Lizzy.  
The gun's cracks were loud, and beside him, Tommy was shaking.

  
Lizzy stood, "Quickly, now!"

  
Tommy was pushed through the gap first, Adam next, with Lizzy snatching the gun off him and covering her brother.

  
Luke was throwing himself through quickly, Lizzy ducking through after him.  
They ran, they were followed closely by the guards, Lizzy at the back was firing, she was deadly accurate with the gun.

 

 

They could see the bashed up black car when Tommy tripped, he curled up on the muddy ground and closed his eyes prepared for death.

  
Adam saw him fall and snatched the gun from Lizzy as she passed them. She didn't slow, running with Luke to the car and opening the bonnet.

 

 

Adam was struck suddenly by how much was resting on him in this moment, he had to keep the guards away from Luke and Lizzy and Tommy, Tommy's life was in his hands.

  
Behind him the engine revved and time seemed to slow, Adam dropped down, lifting Tommy and ran towards the car. A bullet skimmed past his shoulder, a guard reared up in front of him. And then, there was the car, he shoved Tommy in the back seat, and climbed in beside him.

  
Luke met his eyes then floored the acceleration, and in moments the guards where white marks against the gray complex, and the sun was just starting to rise.


	9. 10

Pain. White light. And ow, he really hurt. Suddenly Adam's mind returned and he began to struggle. A pair of strong hands held him still, and a voice snapped,

  
"Stay still, or Lizzy's gonna end up sticking that needle somewhere nasty."

  
Luke! Adam relaxed a moment later and winced as the felt the needle slide out of his skin. A second later Lizzy peeled the white cloth off his forehead, and eyes. He looked around, they were under the shade of a tree and around them the desert stretched on for miles, the complex a gray smudge to Adam's left.

Lizzy grinned down at him, her dusty hair falling in her face, "Feeling better?"

Adam sat, Luke's warm hand on his back, holding him upright, he looked into Luke's tired happy face and slowly the previous night returned to him. "Oh god! Tommy, how is he?"

  
Lizzy looked down, and shook her head, "He's alive, but he won't speak, won't eat. He just sits and stares."

  
Adam struggled to his feet, Luke rising gracefully to catch him when he swayed.  
"Adam, you need to stay sitting."

  
Adam looked across at Luke and for one brief second their eyes met, and Luke's eyes widened in understanding, "He's over here. Come on."

  
Leaning on Luke's arm, Adam made his way over to where Tommy was sitting in the back of the car.

  
Luke nodded to him and headed back towards Lizzy. Adam slid in next to Tommy,  
"Hey, Kitty?"

  
Tommy didn't move, not even a flicker of those, thankfully, brown eyes. Adam sighed, and reached up to brush hair out of Tommy's eyes, "Please, baby, don't make me do this again."

  
Tommy leant slightly into the touch, Adam sighed in relief, Tommy was still in there.  
"Come on. Please. "

  
Slowly Tommy looked at him, eyes blank and empty. Even when Tommy had been controlled, he hadn't looked this broken. Adam choked on a sob, and pressed his forehead to Tommy's, "Please. You're too important to us, to me, don't lock yourself away, please Tommy."

  
Tommy suddenly wrenched himself from Adam's touch and pulled open the car door, he nearly fell out. But righted himself and ran, into the desert.

  
Adam followed, he was still woozy from the antibiotics and medication that he'd been given, but he bit his cheek and ran after Tommy. When Tommy collapsed, Adam nearly fell on him. He bearly managed to catch himself, and ended up an inch from Tommy's face.

  
Tommy's eyes were brimming with tears and his hands were clutching at his stomach, Adam didn't touch him but he did ask, putting as much love into his tone as he could,  
"Tommy, what's wrong?"

  
Tommy sounded broken, and the tears began to spill, "Help me, please. It hurts."

  
Adam reached out a hand carefully, touching Tommy's shoulder, Tommy jerked away and Adam withdrew his hand. "What hurts?"

  
Tommy looked up at him, through him, "Help me!"

  
Adam swore, tears beginning to form in his own eyes. "Fuck, Tommy! How?"

  
Tommy suddenly seemed to recognise him, and lunged for him, arms closing tightly around Adam. "Oh god, please help me."

  
Adam hugged him tightly, "How TommyJoe?"

  
Tommy buried his face In Adam's shoulder "I don't know. "

  
Tommy's voice was horse and Adam could hear the ragged breaths and harsh intakes of breath as Tommy tried to stop his tears.

  
Adam rubbed soothing circles into Tommy's back until his breathing calmed and he could speak more rationality. Tommy didn't meet Adam's eyes when he spoke,  
"We've been in the complex a lot longer than you were awake for. They kidnapped us, a very long time ago. They put you under sedation, but They..."

  
His voice trailed off on a choked sob, and Adam held him tightly. Tommy wiped his eyes and laughed weakly, "It happened so long ago, it shouldn't still affect me like this."

  
Adam frowned, Tommy smiled sadly, "They didn't quite understand how to make the drugs work, or how to brainwash someone. So -"Tommy shrugged, "They used me. They tested it all on me, cut me open, tore me apart then put me back together. "

Adam suddenly understood and his eyes widened and he hugged Tommy tighter, "Oh my god."

  
Tommy sighed against his neck and continued to speak, "That was okay. I could deal with that, it was scary and it hurt like hell, but I learnt to deal. Then they started messing with my mind. They showed me things, things no one should see. Gave me a taste of freedom and then ripped it away. They broke me."

  
Adam closed his eyes, trying desperately not to let the tears slide down his cheeks.

Tommy didn't appear to notice. "Then one day, they put you in my...hallucination. You, you fixed me. Looked after me, put me back together. Told me I was amazing, beautiful."

  
Tommy's voice dropped and Adam strained to hear it, "You told me you loved me. Then They, They made me shoot you. I didn't want, but I had to. I was holding that gun, the one that Luke has, and, and I pulled the trigger, you were begging me not to shoot.I wanted to turn around kill Them, but I couldn't move. And right before I killed you, you told me that no matter what happened you would always love me. Then I pulled the trigger."

  
Adam let out a shaky breath, "Oh god. Tommy."

  
Tommy pulled away, stepping away from Adam, "Yeah, I know. I'm broken and scarred, and you couldn't love me. "

  
Adam shot to his feet, hands on Tommy's shoulders and turning him, before Adam even knew what he was doing, his voice was low and hard, "Don't EVER think that. You are the most amazing, wonderful, beautiful person, ever."

  
Tommy snorted, and looked away, Adam caught his chin as tilted his head up,  
"I don't care how broken, scarred, terrified, marked you are, I could never hate you, TommyJoe."

  
Tommy smiled, and tried to pull away, Adam's hands tightened, "And I'm sorry TommyJoe, for blowing you off, for telling you that you didn't want me, before all this."

  
Tommy sighed, "If you're so sorry why did you do it?"

  
Adam gave a huff, "Because I was scared of how much I loved you. Because I couldn't have coped if you'd walked away."

  
Tommy suddenly laughed, tears in eyes, "Oh god! Why did we have to be in this situation to figure it out?"

  
Adam laughed and dipped his head a little, smiling at Tommy, "Because we have dreadful timing."

  
And then Adam kissed him, and Tommy's arms closed around him and for a moment the world stopped turning.

  
Tommy pulled away first to wipe his eyes, and Adam reached for his hand.

  
Tommy took it and title his head up for another quick press of lips, as they moved back towards the car.

 

 

Lizzy smiled when she saw them and waved. Luke stood and smiled, "Finally."

  
Was all he said when he passed them to the car. However his own face dropped afterwards, and he briefly pressed the heels of his hands to his eyes.


	10. 10

The days that followed passed slowly and easily, with a quiet recurring theme of nothing. Tommy and Adam were unbearably in love, Lizzy was smug and Luke, Luke was no where to be found. He bearly came in for meals, seemingly focused intensely on whatever he was building in the garage, of the small house they had found near the edges of the Area.

  
When Adam asked Lizzy about this she shrugged, "He does this when something's bothering him. It's totally normal. "

  
Adam frowned and folded his arms, Lizzy ignored him and continued washing up. She seemed utterly unphased so Adam put the whole thing out of his head and left them both alone.

  
The little house was dirty and in great disrepair, but it was habitable and that was enough for the four. The only one that struggled was Lizzy, as sometimes her artificial vision couldn't pick out a collapsed section of wall from the floor. Adam and Tommy spent their weeks cleaning up to make life easier for them all.

  
One day Luke wondered back out, bearly seeming to see them a focused look on his face.

  
After a few moments he stopped and bent his head over the small devise cradled in the palm of his hand.

  
Lizzy looked up, then stood sharply, "Luke? Where the hell did you get that?"

  
Luke glanced up, "Brought it with us, I've been fixing it."

  
Lizzy was by his side in an instant, leaning over his shoulder, "What does it say?"

  
Luke smiled sharply, "It's a cry for help. Tiffin."

  
Adam and Tommy by now had rejoined them, and Adam frowned at the memory of the clever red head. Tiffin was clever enough not to get herself in trouble so what was going on?

  
He said as much and Luke frowned, his mouth turning down, "When we left the Guides and Guards were punished, Tiffin especially because she was our personal guard."

  
Lizzy frowned as well, Adam could sense the plan building in her brain.

"Well we'll just have to rescue her then."Tommy's voice made him jump, and Adam turned eyes wide, "Go back there?"

  
Tommy nodded, "Sure. We send Luke and Lizzy in first, they turn off the cameras an we're good to go."

  
Luke's face settled into a the same sad expression that had adorned it when Tommy and Adam had first got together.

  
Lizzy frowned at him, "Luke?"

  
Luke shook his head, a wide grin spreading across his face, "Let's do this shit.We're unstoppable, remember?"

  
Adam grinned, "What's the plan then?"

  
Luke frowned and motioned for the others to gather around him.

  
Tommy grinned to himself, he felt as if he was in some kind of film or story. Adam looked at him, his face reflecting the same slightly disbelieving look, Tommy pulled them both into the huddle, one hand clutching at Adam's tightly.

 

 

Later that evening when Luke and Lizzy had disappeared into the garage, sorting the final issues of their plan. Adam sat down next to Tommy, who smiled up at him and stole a quick kiss. Adam smiled and hugged him briefly a strange look on his face.

Tommy frowned up at him, "What?"

  
Adam's frown deepened, "Are you sure you want to go back?"

  
Tommy nodded, "Of course. I'm not made of glass, and if you stay close it'll be fine."

  
Adam nodded but he looked unconvinced, "Okay."

  
Tommy pulled back and folded his arms, "I'm not going to go into shock or anything. Adam seriously."

  
Adam nodded, "I trust you."

  
Tommy smiled, cuddling close to Adam.

  
Adam's arm closed tightly around Tommy's shoulders, his eyes were worried and his mouth was closed in an unhappy line.

  
He knew he'd never be able to persuade Tommy he should stay behind, so he didn't even try.

 

 

The next week Adam was woken by a heavy weight bouncing on his stomach, he batted at it, "Tommy...get off."

  
The giggle was far to low and had too much of a sharp edge to it to be Tommy, Adam cracked open an eye. He was faced with blonde messy hair and bright blue eyes,  
"Luke! Get off, fucker!"

  
Luke laughed and tumbled off him, jumping to his feet. Tommy caught Luke and held him still, "Luke, what the hell?"

  
Luke grinned, "Today's the day, we're breaking into that awful place."

  
Adam sat up so fast he managed to disorientate himself, "What?"

  
Luke grinned and threw his clothes at him, "Get up!"

  
Tommy grinned at Adam and leant over to kiss him, "Come on, Luke's getting the Audi ready."

  
Adam groaned and struggled to his feet, Tommy grinned up at him, eyes wide and exited, but Adam saw the fear lurking behind his eyes. Adam knew that if he looked in a mirror the same thing would be reflected back at him.

  
Tommy was busy picking up Adam's discarded pajamas, so Adam was the first into the hallway. And so the only one to see Luke's face.

  
Luke's eyes were shining and his mouth was drawn into a thin, unhappy frown. His entire posture was defeated, broken, so unlike the cheerful happy-go-lucky Adam was used to. Luke briefly touched the barrel of his gun, then with a soft sigh drew his hand away. He wiped his eyes and turned around, Adam froze. Luke jumped, his face going pale.

  
They exchanged a long look, one that said clearly, yes something was bothering Luke and that Adam had better keep his mouth shut.

  
Adam nodded, and the moment they broke eye contact Tommy's arms closed around his waist, head resting solidly on his shoulder. Tommy smiled at Luke, who was looking at him expectantly, a half smile already on his face. Tommy grinned and bounced away from Adam and hugging Luke, who grinned, "What is it Tommy Joe?"

  
Tommy shook his head, "Are we doing this or not?

  
Luke rolled his eyes and nodded, "Come on."

  
They made their way outside, Lizzy joining them and pressing guns into their hands, Adam raised an eyebrow and Lizzy nodded towards Luke.

  
Adam's eyebrows shot up, Luke was full of surprises.

  
Luke grinned over his shoulder at them and hit the gas, driving them towards what could be their deaths.


	11. 11

Luke parked the small car a little way from the actual complex. He was first out of the car, a shit-eating-grin on his face. Adam met his eyes for a second and saw only pure fear and a desperate kind of sadness in them, then it was gone, replaced with laughter and fear edged excitement. Adam had to admit Luke was a damn good actor.

  
Lizzy cocked an eyebrow at him and he scrambled out of the car, the small gun clutched tightly in his hand. Adam nodded, he was ready to go. Tommy's hand gripped his tightly. Adam looked down, meeting determined brown eyes.He smiled, he couldn't help it, and squeezed Tommy's hand in silent reassurance.

  
Then they were moving, Luke leading the way, nearly silent on the hard packed sand. He suddenly held out a hand and they all slowed, Luke ducked back towards them,  
"It looks like they've upped security since we left."

  
Lizzy frowned, "Damn."

  
There was a moment of silence that Adam found himself breaking, "We'll need a distraction. I volunteer."

  
Tommy shook his head, "Adam!"

  
Adam glared at him, "Shush, I won't die."

  
Lizzy nodded, "What are you planning to do?"

  
Adam shrugged, "We'll see I guess."

  
Luke nodded, jaw clenched tight, "If you're sure?"

  
Adam nodded, then made his way past them, towards the other side of the complex.  
It took him perhaps a minute to reach the gate and fire four shots. His shots loud in the silence and they quickly attracted attention. His shoes slipping and sliding on the desert sand he made his way back to the others.

  
Luke gripped his arm tightly, as if affirming he was real, Adam flashed him a bright grin, he was feeling slightly high on adrenaline, and from the wide eyed look he got from Luke, he was feeling it too.

  
Tommy hugged him and clung on so tightly that Adam had to tap his back,  
"Can't breathe."

  
Tommy pulled back and opened his mouth to speak, but Lizzy's voice cut through, low and dangerous in a way Adam had never heard before, "Now, we go. And if we die, we'll die with our masks on and our guns close. Come on."

  
Adam nodded and took a deep breath, hand tightening on his gun. Tommy smiled shakily, and then they followed Luke quickly.

  
Luke was as efficient as ever and in scant minutes they were in, and running through familiar corridors, Luke and Lizzy moving with a silent and easy efficiency. They led Adam and Tommy towards the detention centre.Lizzy's memory for codes was a blessing as she tapped in a code and the doors slid open. Inside cells, a meter cubed were stacked, inside them people were kneeling, sitting and in some cases staring blankly at the ceiling.

  
Beside Adam, Tommy began to tremble. Adam curled an arm around his shoulders and began to speak quietly to him, while Luke and Lizzy split up and began to search the cages. Suddenly Tommy took a deep breath and looked around, his eyes widening,  
"Guys! Over here!"

  
Lizzy and Luke hurried over, shushing him then grinning when they spotted Tiffin, gagged and chained to her cage. It only took them a moment to undo the chains and gag, and Tiffin stood shakily, "Thank you. I missed you."

  
She hugged Lizzy, Luke and Adam, and held out a hand to Tommy, "I'm Tiffin, but you probably guessed that."

  
Tommy shook her hand, "Tommy."

  
Tiffin nodded, "Nice to meet you."

  
Luke waved his hands at them, "Yes, yes, yes, come on. Time to go."

  
Luke headed them out, and Lizzy locked the door. Then they were off again running through the corridors.

 

 

Months later they still didn't know who tripped the alarm, but someone must have, Luke's jamming signal had set the cameras on a loop.

  
They were nearly out of the complex when the Guards, Drones as Tiffin called them,( "Because they do all the fighting and hard work.") attacked. Lizzy and Luke had guns out and were firing in moments, Tiffin only a moment later. To Adam's surprise Tommy had his gun out pretty quickly and with a set expression was firing. Adam was the last to respond, eyes trained on Tommy, wide with surprise.

  
As he fired he wondered why he'd ever thought Tommy wouldn't shoot, after all, in a sense, this was his revenge.

  
Adam was dragged out of his thoughts by Luke's voice, "Car. Come on!"

  
They ran, out of the complex doors, towards the electric fence, Luke met Lizzy's eyes and she sighed.

  
Adam was brought back to the first escape as they formed a defensive semi-circle around Lizzy.

  
In a few minutes she had a hole big enough, and they ducked through, Lizzy as ever the last one through.

  
They made it to the car, jumping in, revving the engine and stamping down on the gas. Then they were gone a zip across the desert. They relaxed, and Tiffin grinned.

 

 

Adam was dozing off when the sound of an unfamiliar engine startled him awake, neither Luke nor Lizzy had noticed, they were in deep conversation with Tiffin and Tommy was asleep. Adam cocked his gun, waiting, "Luke-"

  
At that moment the Drone appeared, It fired, but not at Adam, towards Luke. Adam didn't see if it had hit, as he fired, his own shot toppled the Drone. And he looked back a triumphant smile on his face, it faded when he saw the Crimson stain on Luke's white T-shirt.

  
Luke pulled over, and half fell, half stepped out of the car. Lizzy climbed out a second later, "Lie still."

  
She grabbed the medical kit and knelt by his side, jaw clenched and tears brimming in his eyes. Luke coughed his body convulsing, blood pooled in the corners of his mouth and he twisted to spit it into the sand. Adam found his eyes fixed on it, the crimson already fading to rust and being covered by the sand.

Luke suddenly gripped Lizzy's hand, "Don't cry."

  
Adam looked up to see Lizzy wiping away tears, she knew he was dying, had accepted the fact. Adam caught Luke's hand, Luke squeezed so hard it hurt, but Adam bearly flinched, "Come on, Luke, we're unstoppable, remember?"

  
Luke laughed, and winced, "Yeah, you are unstoppable."

  
Tommy leant over and brushed Luke's hair out of his eyes, Luke smiled up at him,  
"Well done in there."

  
Tommy nodded. Luke looked at Tiffin, "Look after them."

  
She nodded, "Promise."

  
Finally Luke looked at Adam, and he sighed as if giving in. His hand came to rest on the back.of Adam's neck and he pulled him down. Adam dipped his head as Luke raised his, Luke tasted of tears, blood, dust and gun oil. When he pulled away, Adam knew that would be something he never forgot, he'd tasted death after all.

  
Luke coughed again, blood bubbled and then he fell still. Blue eyes blank and mouth slightly open. Tommy closed Luke's eyes and Lizzy crossed his arms over his chest.  
They stood, dark shapes against the setting sun, and watched the dust begin to cover Luke's body.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you spot the reference, you get Internet cookies :-)


	12. ,12

Luke's death had cut them all to the core, and the silence in the small house was overwhelming. Adam never once caught Lizzy crying , but she never seemed to smile either. There was something set about her expression, and she often disappeared into the garage and locked the door.

  
It had been nearly a week since Luke had died that Adam went and knocked on the door of the garage "Lizzy?"

  
Her voice came clearly through the door, "Come in, Adam."

  
Inside Lizzy was bent over a electrical price of equipment with a frown on her face, "What is it?"

  
Adam knelt beside her and frowned, "Are you okay?"

  
Lizzy settled back on her heels and looked at him, "No. But getting there. And I'll be better when we've finished what Luke started."

  
Adam frowned, "What did he start?"

  
Lizzy moved out of the way to let Adam see what she had been working on,  
"A bomb?"

  
Lizzy nodded, landing and brushing the dirt from her jeans, "Several of them, the same sort as he used to bring down the guard room."

  
Adam stood, understanding, "He wanted to destroy the complex."

  
Lizzy nodded, "He did. And we will."

 

 

Bright blue eyes opened inside the isolation chamber and the boy snarled. They frowned, this was impossible. The boy struggled against his bonds and then closed his eyes and the belts unhooked.

They moved away, as the boy stood, catching hold of the bed and laughing.

"Did you really think it was going to be that easy? I was never one of the people, I've always been one of You. Now RUN."

They turned and fled as Luke picked up his gun and stalked out the door after them.

 

 

As Adam dropped his arm around Tommy, Lizzy stood up, "Luke wanted to destroy the complex, he died, but we're still here, so we will."

  
Everyone nodded and Lizzy sat back down and began to explain what tjhey needed to do. There would be no subtlety this time.

 

 

The car sped across the desert as Lizzy checked the guns and handed them out, along with ammunition. They drew up to the complex in pure daylight and Tiffin and Tommy ducked towards the hole in the fence and Lizzy and Adam cocked their guns. They guards nearly got to look up before being shot down. Lizzy and Adam stepped over them and Adam hooked one of the little bombs to the lock. They ran backwards as Lizzy blew the gates off.

  
They ran across the empty concrete space guns ready then split up placing their bombs at the bottom of each complex and ducking inside to plant one on each level.  
Tiffin and Tommy ducked through the hole in the fence and ran towards the complexes, they ducked into the centre complex. They had to evacuate as many people as possible. And quickly began shepherding people out. The had an hour.

 

 

Luke glanced out of a window as he followed Them, and saw the four figures dart across the courtyard and smiled.

 

 

The hour was over and Lizzy watched as Tiffin and Tommy darted out the doorways and run across the courtyard. They were shouting and Adam could just make out the words "Now. Blow it up!'

  
Adam looked at Lizzy, " Blow it up. Go on."

  
Adam grinned and pressed the button. For a moment nothing happened, then the first explosion happened and Lizzy smiled, "Quickly, to the car!"

  
They got to the car just as the center complex collapsed.

 

 

Luke felt the first explosion rattle through his bones and saw Them stumble. There was three of Them and Luke closed his eyes and sighted on the nearest, he pulled the trigger and they first fell. Luke stumbled as the complex shook. The other two had stopped and were kneeling by the first Luke looked down at Them.

  
He pulled the black masks from their faces and closed his eyes, "I never wanted to kill you, you know. You brought this on yourself."

  
They only bowed their heads. The sound of two shots echoed through the corridors. Luke turned around and began to run towards the nearest window.

 

 

Adam breaker the car and got out to look at the collapsing complex. The people who had been evacuated were milling around outside the fence. And the blocks settled with a small final cloud of dust. " Good riddance. "

  
Tommy's voice sounded quiet in Adam's ear, and Adam turned and hugged Tommy,"To bad rubbish."

  
Tommy laughed and kissed him. Then turned back to Lizzy who was staring in shock towards her left. Tiffin frowned, "Lizzy?"

  
The white motorbike pulled up, and the rider raised his hands and the three guns that were immediately trained on him. Carefully Luke pulled off his helmet and smiled at them, "Where to now?"

  
There was a moment if silence then Lizzy was laughing and crying at once and Tiffin was cheering. Adam and Tommy stepped back and waited a moment before Luke came over to them and hugged them both, "I missed you both, but don't be too sickeningly sweet."

  
Luke looked around at them, then back out at the endless desert ahead of them,  
"Well? Where to now?"

  
Adam laughed, "To the future."  
Luke pulled a face at how cheesy that was, the laughed , "To the fuure it is."

  
The car and motorbike kicked up two dust clouds as they headed for the horizon.


End file.
